


In Which Zeno Joins the Yakuza

by sloppy



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Siblings, Alternate Universe - Yakuza, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-08-16 12:15:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8102083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sloppy/pseuds/sloppy
Summary: This is a one-shot but here are add-ons:Kija was a young master of another smaller clan that eventually absorbed into Hiryuu’s. Jae-Ha is a shady member of a smuggler ring run by Gigan under the rule of the Hiryuu clan. Shin-Ah had been a street urchin until he was personally brought in by Yona into the family. The chief of national police had been Il’s brother Yu-Hon, and his son is Soo-Won. Joo-Doh and Guen-Tae are police detectives assigned to organized crimes. Lili’s father is one of the top commanders in charge, but does not live in the compound herself despite visiting Yona as often as possible. Eventually Yona goes to school and everyone is :( because most of them are all old and moldy so they can’t attend too. There, she meets Yoon, and he becomes her best friend. Hak is assigned as her bodyguard, which is the newest concept imaginable, I know.Concerning the technical terms:Shuten works directly under the third man in command in Il’s time. Same with Abi being the second in command’s underling. Guen is the headquarters chief who works for the Senior Advisor, the primary administrative assistant to the Family Head. Mundok is the Senior Advisor for Il. Later, when Hiryuu reigns, the dragons get promoted to third, second, and the Senior Advisors, respectively. (x)





	

Zeno learned very quickly his responsibilities. He would use his bike and ride off to addresses written hastily on his wrist, then slip thin envelopes under the door cracks. He didn’t ask what was inside; he didn’t need to. Sometimes he would have to smuggle small packages through heavy populated areas and the worst dangers were the officers in uniform patrolling the area, a walkie in their hands and a baton on their waist. Luckily, Zeno was always very talented at disappearing. 

The older men, his new _big_ _brothers_ , treated him with as much kindness he had expected—which meant, at least, none had mishandled him. He was glad most of them kept to their own, but sometimes did feel a little lonely, being the only nine-year-old living on the premises.

(Occasionally, a small, effeminate boy with long, blond hair would come visit along with his father—a rigid and fearsome man always dressed in black—and Senior Advisor Son Mundok’s usually-grumpy kid would tag along unexpectedly happily, exchanging blows using sticks in the yard and roleplaying as a king and a knight. It didn’t take much to deduce who played whom.)

If there was any complaint Zeno held about being introduced to this new life, it was the ghost.

Big Brother Shuten had told him about it his first week: the third floor of the main building was forbidden to any unauthorized subordinates and had been since the death of the Family Head’s first wife seven years ago. The ghost would be only a quick shadow in the corner of your eyes and once you turned, you saw only a bright flicker of the Family Head’s wife, now a wandering ghost, searching for the door to the afterlife. Eyewitness accounts even identified a small figure at the window where her supposedly abandoned chambers were located. 

“Only the Boss himself, Hiryuu-san, and the occasional housekeeper have access. Anyone else caught snooping—well, ever heard of Jin?”

Zeno, who had been carrying his half-empty box of belongings at the time, shook his head vigorously, eyes wide.

“ _Exactly_ ,” Shuten answered, a feral shark grin sweeping across his lips. He was only maybe a few years older than him, in his late teen years, but age was not equivalent to his experience, being the Third Commander’s top underling.

“Idiot.” Abi, assistant chief to the Second Commander, appeared from a tatami room without so much as a sound. He was about the same age as Shuten, although he tended to act much older. His eyes were something to behold. “We’ve never had a Jin around here.”

But Shuten was already sent into stitches at Zeno’s frozen expression. The younger boy could deal with gangs and guns and blood and money, but come spiritual apparitions and the bravery flees. 

“Ghosts aren’t real,” explained Abi over Shuten’s boisterousness, trying to placate the newest recruit. “Even if they were, they couldn’t hurt you.”

“It’s not like I’m afraid,” Zeno muttered, gaze lowering. His fingernails dug into the cardboard of his box. “It’s just—if something dies but then _doesn’t really_ —I mean, isn’t it kind of… disgusting? Sad, almost. Nothing should stay on earth after it’s already died once.”

“Then this,” continued Shuten, still ridding amusement from his voice, “must be nothing.”

After a month living in their organization, Zeno was pleased to note he had never come across anything near paranormal (excluding the Family Head’s inexplicable ability to produce piping hot meat buns from underneath his kimono sleeve and hand them to him and the ever-loved Son Hak). Because he had served greatly in his daily deliveries, somehow he was wordlessly promoted to errand running between the Third and Second Commander, the Senior Advisor, the Family Head, and, surprisingly, the Family Head’s only son, Hiryuu. 

Zeno couldn’t properly describe Hiryuu if he was asked. He wasn’t sure if anyone could. Except Hiryuu was the reason he was here, and if that wasn’t enough to make Zeno adore him, nothing was. In fact, Hiryuu had been the one to bring in prodigies like Abi, Shuten, and even Guen, the headquarters chief—all young and skilled and impeccably talented at what they did, so it confused him as to why Hiryuu had picked _him_. 

Confusion aside, Hiryuu was beautiful. It was a strange thing to note, but as Hiryuu grew into his teenage years, every movement was touched with grace and poise. Even his words, flowing and soft, commanded any and all attention once spoken. He had the charisma and the softness his father possessed, but owned a certain determination his father lacked. Family Head Il, as Zeno had heard from others in short whispers, was getting too senile, too soft. Hiryuu was born to lead, and Zeno wondered if he was born to follow him. 

“Zeno,” Hiryuu called as soon as he was spotted. He was in the garden again, sitting on a chair laid out just for him to watch the koi turn in circles inside the pond, and behind him, in multiple facets of disarray, were Hiryuu’s Dragons (for that was what some addressed the three top underlings behind their backs, because despite the fact that they were all subordinates of different ranks, they guarded Hiryuu like beasts defending their treasure). “It’s good to see you.”

“H-hello, Hiryuu-san.” Zeno carried a box in his backpack which he fished out and offered to Hiryuu. It was given to Zeno that morning to transport, small in size and an elongated rectangular shape. It was wrapped carefully with this morning’s newspaper. “This is yours.”

The light in Hiryuu’s eyes lit up at once and accepted it with pure gratitude. His appreciation was blinding. “Thank you very much.”

Peeking from behind, Guen eyed the package warily. “Another one? That’ll be the third this week.”

After stifling a yawn, Shuten told them, “Leave it be. I don’t see a problem with a little gift.”

“Hiryuu-san has an affinity for spoiling,” Abi wryly commented.

“Rather than spoiling,” the next-in-line head countered, a sadness laced within his words, “I think of it as recompense. Though I suppose nothing can truly compensate for it…”

Trailing off, Hiryuu tore his eyes away from the package to meet Zeno’s gaze, who had been standing awkwardly awaiting dismissal, and spoke: “Zeno, my little brother. Would you like to come with me to the third floor?”

“The third floor? Isn’t it haunted?” Zeno blurted, too shocked to think before speaking. He reeled back and tacked on, “Sir.”

“My, my—‘sir’! Shuten, did you teach him that?” Shuten shrugged in indifference which led Hiryuu to address Zeno once again, a much happier and lighter mood than before. “No, it’s not haunted, as the older brothers may have gotten you to believe.”

“There isn’t a ghost?” Zeno still needed some reassurance. 

“Ghost?” repeated Hiryuu with amusement. “As far as I know, there are no ghosts on the premises. Quite unfortunate.”

Under his breath, Shuten scoffed. “ _Unfortunate_ , he says.”

“Come with me, Zeno.” Hiryuu stood from his chair and the koi beneath him swam over each other in a frenzy as if sensing his departure. “I will show you the true resident of the third floor.”

Zeno tried to make himself expect absolutely nothing following Hiryuu and the other brothers up the stairs leading to the last floor of the main building. Along the way they had walked passed an older group of the Senior Advisor’s subordinates who had bowed when they saw Hiryuu and parted like he were Moses and they, the Red Sea. The Senior Advisor hadn’t been there in person and Zeno only felt a little upset that he wouldn’t be receiving any hard candy that afternoon. 

The stairs leading up to the third floor were polished and in better condition than the rest of the building, which went against Zeno’s imagination of cob webbed wood and creaky steps. The journey ended above the staircase and faced five forks to five differing hallways. It came not as a shock; the main house had large floors spanning yards, a luxury and security.

Hiryuu, familiarity, chose the entrance furthest to the right, and as they walked Zeno noticed a small, rusted red dragon carved into the wall. Was it red because it was rusted? Then he looked back to see the other entrances had dragons of mirroring images, in different colors.

“What’s in the other paths?” Zeno didn’t address this particularly towards anyone, but preferably to Abi, who was next to him. He couldn’t quite get himself to talk directly to Hiryuu.

“Dead ends,” whispered Abi, as if this place was sacred and he dared not to raise his voice. “Sometimes booby traps. It’s supposed to be for protection, to confuse intruders.”

“Like a maze,” Zeno concluded. Surely not even the Family Head’s quarters had such a dramatic way of protection! Though no guards littered this floor, he could tell it was a place of refuge. Fleetingly, he thought it made for a good prison, as well.

They passed a multitude of doors on their singular direction though the hallway, all closed shut, but not locked. Zeno discovered this when Shuten opened a door and spit his chewed gum in the first trash basket he found. Abi expressed his distain in the form of eye rolling.

Their destination was double-doored and significant in size, but simple in design like the others. It was the penthouse of the floor, and even Zeno was smart enough to deduce that this must be the late wife’s quarters. 

He was unable to control his trepidation. Hiryuu unlocked the door with a key the size of Zeno’s whole palm, which was smaller than any of the other boys’, but nonetheless grandiose. The door swung open with a slow creak.

“Big brother!”

It was not a ghost that tackled the young master in a blur of red. It was not a ghost that Hiryuu swung up in his arms and embraced with an intensity that was tangible. It was not a ghost that lived on the third floor of the main house. 

It was a child. 

She was younger than Zeno, no older than than six. Her pink cheeks were as chubby as a squirrel’s. There were pearly tears at the corner of her eyes, like she had just awoken from a nap that left her cranky, and she wore a nightdress so white Zeno nearly retracted his thoughts back to a haunting. 

He recoiled, mainly from surprise and somewhat from confusion.

“Yona,” Hiryuu greeted warmly, still carrying her in her arms. “I’m sorry I didn’t visit any sooner.”

“That’s okay,” said the little girl, Yona. Her voice was soft and a somehow coarse, as if she was unused to speaking. “Big brother is busy, just like Daddy. I can play by myself.”

Looking around the room, Zeno saw that it was bigger than his, which was to be expected. The furniture was polished and the tables shined like marble. Atop the vanity dresser, instead of perfumes and cosmetics, were piles of dolls and cards and blocks, the surface of it left unseen. The jungle of toys continued even on the carpeted floor and two sofas. It was a personified children’s dream. The bed in the corner was possibly foreign because it was the western sort with a mattress and a duvet overhead, and Zeno imagined it would be made of something soft, too, like feathers or cotton. Everything exuded luxury, but there was something that made it feel bearable, lived-in. 

On the bed laid a set of stuffed dragons ranging in colors matching the symbols outside. They were separated from the other toys like something revered.

“I have a present for you.” Hiryuu presented the wrapped box Zeno had delivered and let her down onto the ground. The contents were obvious now that Zeno had seen the room.

She took it and ripped it open. Squealing, she fished out the toy from the box. It was another dragon. Yellow. The girl hugged it close. “Thank you!”

Hiryuu pet her head tenderly, then glanced at Zeno and the others as if he only remembered they were there. “Yona, you remember my friends, don’t you?”

At the mention of them, Yona squeaked and hid behind Hiryuu’s legs. Shyly, she said, “Hi.”

Hiryuu smiled, and so did the older boys. Guen and Abi were gentle with their hellos, and even Shuten spared a peace sign. Zeno said, lightened somehow, “My name’s Zeno. I like your dragon.”

Yona brightened at once. “You like dragons?”

“Yeah,” said Zeno, staring at the one in her grasp and feeling a little overwhelmed. 

“Do you want to play with me?”

He felt Hiryuu’s gaze on him, but it wasn’t as frightening as he thought it would, to be under the Family Head’s son’s scrutiny. “Okay.”

She led him to the bed where the dragons were, no doubt her favorite toys. There were five of them all together: red, white, blue, green, and now with the addition of yellow.

“Yona is my little sister,” Hiryuu began, settling in one of the large couches. Shuten and Abi had followed suit and fought over the seat closest to Hiryuu, which left Guen to the couch where a porcelain doll was having a tea party with a bear and a bunny. He kept his distance. “After our mother was kidnapped and murdered by one of our rivaling gangs, Father became, in a way, paranoid and over-protective. Her existence was hidden, and now I am the only known child of the Family Head.”

Zeno recalled the maze-like atmosphere leading up to this room, remembering how he thought it would be a perfect prison. He watched Yona, murmuring aloud the dragons’ adventures and making the toys dance and play, perfectly used to doing so by herself. “She’s not allowed to leave this place, is she?” he asked, though he knew what the answer would be.

“Try to understand,” the other boy said gently, not quite upset, “my father may seem to lack sensible judgement about a multitude of things, proper handling of this situation included, but his love for her is as genuine as mine. I come as often as I can as well as he, but other than her caretaker and the housekeeper, Yona sees no one else.” 

Yona’s head popped up at the sound of her brother calling her name. She smiled widely. “I see outside the window when the boys play with the sticks like they’re fighting. One day I’ll play with them, too, and I’ll pretend to be a pirate.”

Guen interprets this for them. “I think she means the Son kid and your cousin. The police chief’s boy. I see them running about, sometimes.”

“I’m sure they would love to meet you,” said Hiryuu, complying. In that moment he seemed kingly, not contrived like he was occasionally with the grown-ups, and it was really a thing to behold. “But for now, would you like it if big brother Zeno here came to play once in a while?”

Zeno blanched. Had this been Hiryuu’s motive for bringing him here? Luckily, he had nothing to protest; Yona was cute, if a bit spoiled, and Zeno had dealt with plenty of kids on the street when that was where he was still living. He felt pity, really, when he imagined her, accustomed to being alone. A kid like Yona could never be a chore.

Instead of answering Hiryuu directly, he turned to Yona and asked, a confirmation, “Do the dragons have super powers?”

He felt a searing warmth engulf him when he saw Hiryuu smile. His big brothers all fell into a period of amiable bickering in the background while Zeno let Yona tell him about the yellow dragon’s power of protection that kept everyone it loved safe. Later, Zeno found himself wondering if a power like that really existed, and thought about how nice life would be if it did. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is a one-shot but here are add-ons:
> 
> Kija was a young master of another smaller clan that eventually absorbed into Hiryuu’s. Jae-Ha is a shady member of a smuggler ring run by Gigan under the rule of the Hiryuu clan. Shin-Ah had been a street urchin until he was personally brought in by Yona into the family. The chief of national police had been Il’s brother Yu-Hon, and his son is Soo-Won. Joo-Doh and Guen-Tae are police detectives assigned to organized crimes. Lili’s father is one of the top commanders in charge, but does not live in the compound herself despite visiting Yona as often as possible. Eventually Yona goes to school and everyone is :( because most of them are all old and moldy so they can’t attend too. There, she meets Yoon, and he becomes her best friend. Hak is assigned as her bodyguard, which is the newest concept imaginable, I know.
> 
> Concerning the technical terms:
> 
> Shuten works directly under the third man in command in Il’s time. Same with Abi being the second in command’s underling. Guen is the headquarters chief who works for the Senior Advisor, the primary administrative assistant to the Family Head. Mundok is the Senior Advisor for Il. Later, when Hiryuu reigns, the dragons get promoted to third, second, and the Senior Advisors, respectively. ([x](http://strolen.com/viewing/Yakuza_Ranking_System))


End file.
